Liberation Maiden review

Purifying warzones with nature, Liberty mechs, and a high school student turned president of Japan – Liberation Maiden has all the hallmarks that come attached to the Suda 51 name.

Originally launched as one quarter of Level-5’s Guild01 compilation, Liberation Maiden arrives on our shores as a standalone download via Nintendo’s eShop but this is one slice of Suda madness that’s surprisingly uninspired.

Liberation Maiden’s premise is based around student Shoko Ozora being appointed president of New Japan and tasked protecting her country by means of a hulking mech suit.

It’s a concept you’d expect to find scrawled on the scrapbook belonging to the same mind that brought us No More Heroes and Killer 7. Yet Suda’s involvement seems to end there.

A slight and uninspired mech shooter, Liberation Maiden struggles to live up to its bonkers premise.

You’re thrown into five largely dissimilar missions tasked with destroying spikes that erupt from the ground and siphon off New Japan’s energy supply. You’ll have to plug a handful of these before tackling the boss-like Greater Spikes.

Sub missions will task you with taking out smaller targets and investigating areas of the map but these are small distractions to the greater task.

Controls are familiar to those of Kid Icarus: Uprising albeit without any of the customisable features. The Circle Pad steers your mech-suited president through the air, aiming missiles and lasers using the stylus. It’s fiddly and almost entirely unplayable to us lefties.

Liberation Maiden earns points for its visuals and gorgeous anime cut-scenes (even in the story…) but at roughly an hour’s running time, Suda’s most disappointing title is by far his shortest. Stage Attack and a Gallery of 30 items to unlock isn’t likely to keep your attention long either.

Judging by the game’s cliff hanger ending, Liberation Maiden’s destined for a sequel but such a follow-up will have to make strides to amend the shortcomings of its debut. Even Suda fans should take caution before dipping into their digital wallets.

Summary: An uninspired showing from the usually talented mind of Suda 51.

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About the author

Matthew Davies+ Fresh out of Leeds University, Matt objectifies that nothing encountered in his life has proven as resolute as Nintendo's pedigree. The lofty heights of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Super Mario Galaxy 2 prove to be his favourites, now clamouring for the Wii U remake of the former later this year.